Two officers change tires for broken-down motorists two days in a row

You never expect a vehicle breakdown, but they happen anyway. On June 6, a woman had a tire blowout on the Nicholas Street off-ramp of the Queensway. She had a young child in the car with her, temperatures were sweltering, and the woman didn’t know how to change the tire. She also didn’t want to bother police with her problem.

Fortunately, Cst. Falyn Day was driving past and she stopped to help. “The car was in a dangerous spot, for the woman and her child as well as other road users,” said Cst. Day.

Cst. Day radioed for Sgt. Stephen Kirtz to attend so they could alert other drivers and get the disabled vehicle off the road as quickly as possible.  

Coincidently, the pair had changed a tire the day before for a driver on Highway 174.

“If your car breaks down on a busy road, call police so we can assess the situation and send an officer to assist if necessary,” said Cst. Day. “We want everyone to be safe.”

With the number of vehicles on our roadways, Sgt. Kirtz says it’s not surprising that situations, where an officer is going by and stops to help, happens on a weekly if not daily basis.

Just in case your car breaks down in a high traffic area and an OPS officer isn’t around to help you, here are some tips from Cst. Day and Sgt. Kirtz so it doesn’t ruin your day:

• Always do a vehicle inspection before you get behind the wheel. Check the tires, window-washer fluid levels and make sure you have enough gas to get where you’re going. 
• For longer trips, check the weather and road conditions before you go and let someone know your travel route.
• Have a charged cell phone available so you can call for help if you need it.
• Keep an emergency kit in your car.
• Consider getting a road-side assistance plan.
• Learn how to change a tire before the need arises.
• Most importantly, if you have a break-down on a busy roadway, that’s too dangerous a situation to change a tire. It’s even a safety risk for a roadside assistance or tow truck operator. Call police so an officer can alert oncoming traffic to the hazard on the roadway.

 Safe driving!